Chapter 1038: No Compromise!
By the time they left the Jiang family’s ancestral home, it was already seven o’clock in the evening!
By then, the streetlights had just come on, and the sky had grown completely dark!
As the car weaved through the heavy traffic, Li Yi’s mood was neither good nor bad—just tinged with a touch of melancholy and helplessness.
Although the situation had now shifted in their favor—and to Li Yi, the downfall of the Liu family was practically a foregone conclusion—
To outsiders, the Liu family of the capital seemed powerful, but in his eyes, they were nothing more than minor foes that could be crushed at any moment.
It was just the fact of being dragged into this family feud for no good reason that left Li Yi feeling rather annoyed.
Jiang Xue, standing nearby, saw her husband’s expression and immediately asked, “What’s wrong? Are you still worried about Brother Wang and the others?”
Li Yi shook his head and said, “No. If things go as expected, Old Wang and Gangzi will be released today. The Liu family wouldn’t dare do anything to them!”
“If that’s the case, then why don’t you look very happy?” Jiang Xue asked.
“I’m not unhappy, just that some things are pretty frustrating!” Li Yi sighed.
“What’s got you so pensive?” Jiang Xue asked curiously.
Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Ever since I decided to marry you, I’ve had a plan for our future. In my mind, after we got married, you’d take care of the kids and the household, while I’d run a small business. We’d live a stable, quiet life—not seeking great wealth or prestige, just happiness and peace of mind.”
“But, well, I never expected plans to change so much. First, I never imagined your background would be so extraordinary, and second, I never expected our family business to grow so large that it’s even caught the attention of the higher-ups…”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Jiang Xue asked.
“It’s not that it’s bad. With the Jiang and Ye families as our backing and more money than we could ever spend, it would be nice to just sit back and enjoy life as a wealthy man. But… trouble always seems to find me out of the blue—there are always troublemakers out there trying to bring me down!”
Li Yi continued, “These past few days, I’ve been reflecting on something. Could it be that the low-key, humble, and reserved approach I’ve always taken is actually wrong?”
Jiang Xue was taken aback for a moment, then replied, “That approach and way of handling things are both quite good. Why would they be wrong?”
“I used to think that approach was right too, but now that I think about it, it’s completely off the mark. Let’s not go too far back—just take Third Brother and Brother Jianhua, for example. Do you think they conduct themselves in a low-key manner?” Li Yi asked.
“They’d love for the whole country to know how rich they are. Every day, they’re either inviting friends over for drinks and parties, or driving around town showing off, buying this and that—how could they possibly be considered low-key?” Jiang Xue said.
“That’s exactly the problem. Because they’re so flashy, wherever they go, they’re always the center of attention. Whether it’s thugs and hoodlums on the streets or ordinary citizens, no one dares to mess with them.”
Li Yi continued, “Look at the people around us, though. They all work hard and keep a low profile. Yet, there’s always some clueless person who has to come out of nowhere and try to make a scene right in front of us.”
“Do you think we’re the ones who are wrong, or is there something wrong with the world?”
Hearing Li Yi’s words, Jiang Xue was taken aback.
She had never thought about this before, but now that she considered it, Li Yi’s reflection did make sense.
After a long moment, Jiang Xue tucked the small blanket around Yunrui, who was fast asleep in her arms, and asked, “So what do you want to do? Should we follow Third Brother’s example and be more outspoken?”
Li Yi shook his head. “I just can’t pull that off!”
“Why not?”
“Third Brother is the kind of person who doesn’t give a damn—he just does whatever makes him happy. But I can’t do that. I have too many reservations when it comes to things; I can’t be as carefree as him, and I just can’t pull off being that flashy…”
Just as he was speaking, the car suddenly came to a stop.
Li Yi looked out the window and saw they had just reached the entrance to the alley leading to his courtyard. He immediately asked, “Awen, why did you stop?”
“Brother Yi, the road ahead is completely blocked. I’m afraid our car won’t be able to make it into the alley,” Zhou Wen said.
Li Yi frowned, handed his daughter in his arms to Jiang Xue, and got out of the car.
Once outside, Li Yi indeed saw that his alley was packed with parked cars.
Although it was pitch black and he couldn’t make out exactly how many there were, the closest one was already backed right up against the entrance. That meant there were at least four or five cars ahead, if not more.
Li Yi was puzzled. Usually, there wasn’t much foot or vehicle traffic in this alley, especially at night. How could there be so many cars here?
As he got closer and took a closer look at the license plates, holy cow—wasn’t that Jiang Longcheng’s license plate number?
He looked at the car in front of it—it was clearly Ye Jianhua’s… So all these cars had come looking for him.
Li Yi then asked Zhou Wen to find a place to park, while he and Jiang Xue each took a child in their arms. Under Yang Zhiwen’s protection, they hurried toward their home.
When Li Yi returned to his own courtyard, he found the gate ajar, with a faint glow of light visible inside.
As they pushed the door open and stepped into the courtyard, they could hear Jiang Longcheng’s rough, unrestrained booming voice from a distance.
Striding into the courtyard, Li Yi and Jiang Xue saw through the glass window that there seemed to be quite a few people in their living room.
As they passed the west wing, Jiang Xue suddenly said, “Wait a minute, let’s take the kids to Big Sister’s room. We don’t want to wake up Third Brother and the others when we go back to the main hall!”
“Alright!”
With that, Li Yi took Jiang Xue and the already sleeping children to their eldest sister’s room, then returned to the main hall alone.
Pushing open the slightly ajar door to the living room, Li Yi saw it was packed with people.
Besides Jiang Longcheng, who had already recognized the voices, there were Ye Jianhua, Wang Anguo, An Hong, Li Gang, Yin Jianping, Wu Yue, and others.
Counting his eldest sister’s husband and Yang Miao (the bodyguard assigned to protect Jiang Xue, and Zhang Feng’s partner), there were over a dozen people, filling the living room to capacity.
Seeing Li Yi return, the crowd—who had been chatting animatedly just moments before—fell instantly silent, and all eyes turned to him.
“Brother-in-law, you’re finally back! Everyone’s been waiting for you!” Jiang Longcheng said with a wide grin.
Li Yi smiled and said, “I just finished dinner with the old man and chatted a bit longer, so I got back a little late!”
Then Li Yi changed the subject, turning to Wang Anguo and the others. “Brother Wang, Gangzi, when did you guys get out?”
Wang Anguo replied immediately, “We got out a little after two this afternoon, but the bureau chief called us in for a two- or three-hour talk. We came straight here as soon as we finished!”
“How did it go? Did they give you a hard time?” Li Yi asked.
“They didn’t exactly give us a hard time. At first, they wanted to charge us with torture to extract a confession, dereliction of duty, and violating organizational discipline, but we refused to admit guilt, so things reached a stalemate!”
Wang Anguo continued, “Then, once you guys started making a fuss on the outside, they became even more afraid to touch us. By this afternoon, they just let us go outright.”
Li Yi nodded and said, “At least they aren’t completely stupid. If they dare to keep you locked up, they’ll be the ones begging you to leave!”
After a moment’s thought, Wang Anguo spoke again. “Brother Li Yi, Deputy Chief Yang from the Precinct came to talk to us this afternoon. He said that as long as we drop this matter and stop investigating Liu Dongping’s case, he’ll promote me to Criminal Investigation Team Captain at the precinct within six months, and Gangi, Old Yin, and Old Wu will each get a one-rank promotion…”
Before Wang Anguo could finish, Li Yi asked in a low voice, “Did you agree?”
“Not exactly, but I didn’t refuse him outright either. I just said I’d think it over!”
Wang Anguo continued, “We’ve discussed it among ourselves. From our personal perspective, we certainly don’t want to let that scumbag off the hook like this, but we also have to consider your situation—we can’t put you in a difficult position…”
“I’m not in a bind. If you want to keep fighting those scumbags, I fully support you!” Li Yi said.
Wang Anguo looked at Li Yi and said, “Are you really not in a bind? After all, the Liu family isn’t just any ordinary clan. Their influence is deeply entrenched and should not be underestimated!”
Ye Jianhua chimed in, “Brother-in-law, I know you’re a straight shooter, but I’d still advise you to think this through carefully!”
“My mom told me that people from the Liu family went to Director Huang’s office at her workplace today. It’s going to be tough for us to get articles published in the Workers’ Daily from now on. Why not just let this slide while the Liu family is backing down?”
Li Yi replied coldly, “Brother Jianhua, you need to understand one thing: when a thug tries to reason with you, it’s not because he’s seen the light—it’s because he’s afraid you’ll beat him up.”
“Thugs like the Liu family—when they’ve done something wrong, they’re still trying to cover it up. They clearly don’t mean a word of it. Why should we make peace with them?”
Wang Anguo immediately replied, “Since Brother Li Yi is on board, we’ll fight these scumbags to the bitter end!”
Li Gang, Yin Jianping, and the others also voiced their support, vowing never to compromise with the scum of the Liu family!
Seeing how resolute the main figures were, Li Yi immediately began discussing the next steps with them…
……….